Name of the Project
Tulkubash oxide gold project.

Location
Kyrgyzstan.

Project Owner/s
Charaat Gold Holdings.

Project Description
The project has gold reserves of 571 100 oz and silver reserves of 845 700 oz mined over a current five-year life-of-mine.

The updated bankable feasibility study (BFS) envisages average gold production of 95 200 oz/y and silver production of 140 940 oz/y, with peak production during steady-state operations of more than 111 000 oz/y.

The project will use conventional openpit mining methods followed by standard heap-leach processing.

The heap-leach facility will process five-million tonnes a year.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an improved after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $85-million and an internal rate of return of 25%.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital costs are estimated at $115-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The company continues to aim for first gold production in the second half of 2023.

Latest Developments
Although the seizure of the Kumtor mine has delayed debt financing for the proposed Tulkubash mine, the project’s timeline has not materially shifted, Chaarat has reported.

The company previously said the extensive media coverage of the impasse between Canada’s Centerra Gold and Kyrgyzstan could be negatively perceived by potential future debt or equity investors, despite having no direct impact on Chaarat’s operations.

Chaarat has reported that it has received “healthy interest” from potential fixed income investors to provide funding to refinance its existing corporate debt and the costs related to the project.

"The slight delay in the Tulkubash debt financing process was caused by external factors, despite our strong support in-country and the confirmation of strong project economics in the updated BFS 2021, but we target signing of this financing in the third quarter of 2021. Operations in-country are progressing well and we are on time with our exploration and construction timeline," CEO Artem Volynets has said.

An equity fundraise in February provided Chaarat with $30-million for the construction of the project.

A project finance facility is required for the balance.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
LogiProc (overall project management, minerals processing and metallurgical testing, recovery methods, project infrastructure, capital cost estimate, operating cost estimate, project execution plan); SMS (geological block model and associated data integrity, mining method review, economic analysis and ore reserve statement); WAI (environmental studies, permitting, social or community impact, geochemistry, hydrology, hydrogeology); and Ausenco (drilling, mineral resource review, sample preparation, data verification, analyses, security and heap-leach facility design).

Contact Details for Project Information
Charaat Gold Holdings, tel +44 20 7499 2612 or email info@chaarat.com.